Chapter 29
29
CELIA
S ince Gabriel, Luca, and Dante couldn’t be convinced to let me go back into my father’s house—and as much as I wanted them to see me as their equal, I was also relieved by their protectiveness—we eventually agreed that what made the most sense was to set my father up. We would launch the attacks on the other families ourselves.
However, there was one way to make it far more foolproof. Although I knew it was hard for them to trust my relationship with the other mafia princesses, I convinced them that I needed to meet with Kara.
Bringing Kara into our plans would give us a chance to help her at the same time. She could make sure that what was planted after the attack cast all the blame on Mal Carmichael, specifically, instead of rebounding back potentially on Gabriel. Everyone knew Gabriel and Mal had been allied for a time, even if they saw us as divided now. I didn’t want to end the conflict with my father just to end up at war with the other families.
Most important of all, I could make sure Kara was free and safe, clear of any danger. We could plan an attack that would help launch the fall of her father and the rise of Kara. The only difficult thing was when to reach her, to be sure we were safe at the same time.
My men hated the idea, but at least they hated it a little bit less than they hated the idea of me going back to the Carmichael family house.
“I certainly can’t take the throne if no one ever sees me again,” I chided them. “I have faith in you all to protect me.”
“I almost lost you at the last party you attended,” Gabriel reminded me.
“Would it make you feel better if you had me tagged again?” I asked, my voice mocking. My fingers rose to touch where the tracker had been, where Luca had gouged it out at my demand. I regretted making him help me; his face had been etched with pain as he hurt me.
“Yes,” Gabriel said without hesitation.
Well. I wasn’t going to reform him completely.
“From everything we’ve heard, my father blames you for Royal’s death, not me,” I said. “There are already rumors of our families being divided. No one is under the impression that you loved me, Gabriel. There is no reason for my father to take me. And there’s little reason for any of the other families to want me when they don’t believe you value me.”
Gabriel’s jaw worked once before he met my gaze. “Well, perhaps me being an asshole can have served some purpose.”
“Besides being fun for you?” I asked archly, but no matter what I said, I perched on the arm of his chair, running my fingers through his dark hair. I couldn’t seem to resist touching all of them.
“Let me go to her party,” I said. “Let me talk to Kara. I need all of you, but I also need my girls. Don’t make me give them up.”
“I can’t deny you anything,” Dante told me, taking my hand.
“I can,” Luca said dryly.
I was keenly aware, and I stuck my tongue out at him. It was a playful, light act that I think surprised both of us.
“You’ll pay for that later,” he told me with a smirk. “After we burn the world down and help you take your throne.”
No matter what waited before us, I couldn’t help but grin.
Kara’s family loved to throw parties.
The Harrow’s love of hosting wasn’t innocent, of course. They created ideal environments for debauchery, and the rumor had it they kept compromising videos of everyone from their wild parties. They owned a dozen different clubs. This location was no exception, full of alcoves and private spots for clandestine meetings.
But for today, I was grateful for their scheming. Kara would know where to find the pockets of privacy.
Kara threw her arms around me when she saw me. “Oh, Celia.”
“I’m all right,” I promised.
“I need to talk to you,” I told her. Then, knowing the stories about her family’s reputation, I added, “In privacy .”
“Of course. I know where we can go.”
I glanced over my shoulder, knowing that Dante and Luca were posted right behind me, my bodyguards once more. But everything was different now. Gabriel was posted further away with a team of men, and even though that had been the logical choice, I knew it had bothered him to let me go.
Once Kara and I were hidden in an alcove, I told her, “I have a change of plans. Gabriel, Dante, and Luca are going to help me overthrow my father. And I think that we can help you too. Who do you need killed?”
She threw her head back and laughed. “You’re going to have to slow down for me. It’s always been hard to keep up with your mind.”
It was always a little hard for me to accept that my friends were actually complimenting me and not giving me some kind of backhanded criticism. But for some reason it felt a little easier today to smile back at her.
“Let me start at the beginning,” I said.
I hoped she would let me tell Gabriel, Dante, and Luca more of her story. But I wasn’t sure if any of my friends would be willing to trust the men in our world.
I told her about what we were plotting.
“I can do what you’re asking. And you know I’m not going to pass up the chance to hurt one of my enemies,” she said, a little darkly.
We were finishing up our rapid-fire plotting, wishing that we had the other girls there to talk with, when Luca barged in.
“Time to go. We don’t exactly have an invitation to be here.”
Kara said, “You know you’d always be welcome. If I had the power…”
I gave her a real smile in response to her sad one. “One day, you will.”
I was already moving out the door when Luca’s hand fell on the nape of my neck, ready to steer me out if I didn’t move.
Some things don’t change.
We moved swiftly through the crowd and out into the car.
The night air had a bite to it as we crossed the parking lot. Gabriel’s men had cleared the area, but something felt off. I looked around but couldn’t see what was wrong. It was just a prickling of danger.
I’d felt all my life shaking in the shadows of vile men. I was primed to feel violence in the air, and while that didn’t always serve me well…I was sure of what I felt now.
“Something’s wrong,” I murmured.
Luca and Dante tensed on either side of me.
Dante’s hand went to his weapon. “Back inside. Now.”
But before we could turn, smoke began billowing from beneath the nearby cars. Not just smoke. Some kind of gas. I pulled my shirt up over my nose and mouth, but I could already taste some kind of spicy tang.
“Don’t breathe it in,” Luca ordered, pushing me toward clearer air.
It wasn’t really advice I needed. I hadn’t been eager to gulp the gas down.
But the gas was spreading fast, creating a wall between us and the club entrance.
Dante fired two shots at the movement he spotted between the cars, but the smoky clouds were making it hard to see. “Where are Gabriel’s men?”
A black van that had been parked on the street screeched toward us, cutting off our escape route.
Gunfire erupted on the side streets as Gabriel’s men engaged our attackers. In the distance, I saw another car drive toward us, only to be blocked by one of Gabriel’s vehicles. The two cars crashed together, and I cringed.
This wasn’t just some rival family’s attack.
“My father,” I said grimly. Of course, he would have anticipated I’d try to contact Kara. He probably had people watching her for weeks.
Luca pushed me behind him as men in gas masks emerged from the vehicles. “You want her? Come get her.”
He punctuated his words with gunshots that dropped several masked men until the others scrambled back.
I scanned the area, my mind racing. Although tears streamed from my eyes and I could barely see, I was still on my feet. We hadn’t lost consciousness. But my eyes were burning, every breath was a struggle. They’d fallen back to defensive positions, but there was nowhere for us to go but toward them.
Th gas was meant to herd us, to make us desperate for clean air. And it was working.
Dante dropped two of the masked men. He was fighting smartly, using the cars as cover, but they had us surrounded. “Luca! We’ve got a way out at three o’clock, take her.”
I saw what he’d spotted. A gap in their formation as they closed around us.
But then I heard the distinctive sound of a rifle being cocked. Through the drifting gas, I saw Vincent, one of my father’s favorite dickheads. He had a rifle trained on Dante.
“Stop,” I called out, my voice hoarse from the gas. “I’ll come with you. Just don’t shoot them.”
“Celia, no,” Dante rasped. The gas was getting to all of us.
Vincent’s voice carried across the lot. “Drop your weapons, or I drop him. Your choice, princess .”
I touched Luca’s arm. “Do it. Please.”
I could feel him trembling with rage, but he slowly placed his gun on the ground. Dante did the same, his movements precise and controlled despite the gas.
“Kick them away,” Vincent ordered.
As soon as they did, men rushed in to grab them. I fought the instinct to struggle as hands seized my arms. “If you hurt them?—”
“Relax,” Vincent said, approaching through the thinning gas. “Your father wants them alive. For now.” He smiled coldly. “He has questions about your loyalties.”
They zip-tied our hands and shoved black bags over our heads.
I fought to keep my breathing steady, focusing on trying to capture every detail I could of our route. Were they taking us to my father’s house or to one of the many secondary locations my father had at his disposal?
Beside me, I could feel Dante’s shoulder pressed against mine. The silent promise in that contact helped keep me calm.
When they finally pulled us out of the van, there was the distant burble of that ridiculous fountain.
I was “home.”
My heart raced, and my chest heaved trying to breathe as they dragged us inside. In my mind, I knew being here was better; I knew the layout of the house and grounds. If we had a chance to escape, this was our best chance. But my body had been primed for fear in this house.
When they removed the hood, I found myself in a stark room. One of the basement rooms that my father used sometimes. They’d separated us. Dante and Luca were nowhere in sight. Vincent stood before me, flanked by two guards.
“Where are they?” I demanded.
“Nearby. Behave and they stay alive.” He studied me. “Your father is very disappointed, Celia. He lost his son, and it seems he lost his daughter too.”
“He hasn’t been much of a father, Vincent.”
“He protected you. Gave you everything.” Vincent shook his head. “And you repaid him by running to his enemies.”
“Are you really stupid enough to believe he was protecting me?” I leaned forward. “Ask him about the night my mother died. Ask him what really happened to his last three seconds-in-command before Royal. Ask him?—”
The slap caught me across the face, snapping my head to the side. I tasted blood.
“Careful,” Vincent said softly. “Your father may want you alive, but he wasn’t worried about your condition.”
He’d been around long enough to know just how much my father cared about my well-being. Now he didn’t even need me to be pretty enough to marry off.
I swallowed blood and raised my gaze to his again.
“Your father will be here soon,” he said, stepping back. “I suggest you use this time to think very carefully about what you’re going to tell him. Be a good girl, Celia.”
I never intended to be the good daughter, the good sister, the good girl ever again.
I was theirs—Dante’s, Luca’s, Gabriel’s—and that was all I wanted to be.